We're days away from the group stage of The International 2024, and Valve keeps adding minor tweaks to the game balance of Dota 2. Tonight, they released patch 7.37c, with small adjustments to items and heroes.

In short, this patch can be summarized as: less health, less shields, more damage. If we look at the list of changed items, almost all of them were nerfed in the survivability aspect. The most sensitive nerfs are those to Solar Crest (-2 armor to Shine buff) and Holy Locket heal amplification.

As for the heroes, the biggest changes unsurprisingly hit the Ringmaster, as it is a new hero. His ultimate is nerfed as well as movement speed and strength buff from Strongman Tonic. Tinker received a painful nerf to his Defense Matrix. 

The hero who probably won the most is Phantom Lancer who received bonus illusion damage to both facets, as well as different upgrades to Spirit Lance and Phantom Rush. Illusions stay longer and bonus agility during and slightly after the rush is a pleasant bonus. Also, Riki is more dangerous on early levels as his backstab got a buff to agility multiplier. 

Overall, we should see slightly more aggressive games, but mostly it will be a headache for pro players, as some of their strats might not be that powerful now.

Main image: alphacoders.com

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